Chapter 12
1070words
In the narrow space of the entryway, the air was suffocatingly oppressive.
All I could hear was my own heart pounding like a drum, and the cold vortex of malice emanating from the man outside the door, like a deep abyss.
SSS class.
The Director of 'Chronos'.
Professor.
These words echoed repeatedly in my mind, each one like a heavy block of lead, striking me until I felt dizzy.
I originally thought the "Ouroboros Consortium" was the biggest threat, but I never expected that the organization behind Rin would send such a terrifying figure.
Moreover, judging from the malice I sensed, this person... is definitely not a friend.
"What should we do?" I asked Rin with trembling thoughts, "Should we... open the door?"
"Absolutely not." Rin's answer was resolute, with a trace of tension in her voice that I had never heard before, "Once we open the door, we lose our only barrier. This apartment door is our only line of defense."
"Then... what should we do now? Call the police?"
"It's useless." Rin's voice was heavy, "For an opponent at the 'Professor' level, conventional police forces mean nothing to him. Besides, the fact that he dares to appear at our doorstep means he has made thorough preparations."
"Ai? Rin? What's wrong with you two?" Yui in the living room seemed to have noticed our unusual behavior and walked over with concern, "Who's outside? Why aren't you opening the door?"
"Stay back, Yui!" I whipped around and shouted at her in an almost severe tone.
Yui was startled by me, frozen in place.
Looking at her face filled with innocence and confusion, my heart twisted in pain.
She shouldn't have been dragged into this.
This place was about to become a battlefield.
"Ding-dong——"
The doorbell rang again, unhurried, like the grim reaper's summons.
Then, that man's gentle voice came through clearly from the other side of the door.
"Nice to meet you, Ayashiro Ai. I am Kurosawa Rin's superior, you may call me 'Professor.' I believe we have some matters to discuss. Would you mind opening the door?"
His voice sounded polite, like a teacher making a home visit.
But that enormous malice was like a tide, crashing against my mind in waves.
I felt like my brain was a server about to burn out, overload warnings blaring all at once.
"Don't listen to him!" Rin growled in my mind, "He's using mental suggestion to manipulate you! Stay focused, partner!"
I gritted my teeth, staring intently through the peephole.
That "professor" still maintained his smile, as if he could see through the door and witness our current pathetic state.
"It seems that Mr. Ai is rather unwilling to communicate with me." The man sighed with disappointment, "In that case, I'll try a different approach."
He took out a phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
The next second, the phone in Rin's pocket began to ring.
Rin's face instantly turned deathly pale.
She took out her phone, looking at the caller ID on the screen, her eyes filled with struggle and... a hint of fear.
"Rin?"
"...It's a direct call from the highest encrypted line. According to regulations, I must answer it." She said with difficulty.
Rin took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.
"……Yes, Director." Her voice returned to that soldier-like coldness, but with a slight tremor that was barely noticeable.
The "Professor" outside the door also put the phone to his ear, his face still wearing that nauseating smile.
"Kurosawa-kun, long time no see. It seems your mission execution has been... quite good." He spoke to Rin through the door on the call, "So good that... you seem to have forgotten what your true mission is."
"My mission is to eradicate conflict," Rin answered coldly.
"Oh? Is that so?" The professor chuckled, "Then, let me help you recall the doctrine you accepted. 'Chronos Operation Guidelines', Article One: In order to achieve ultimate peace, any necessary means may be employed, and any form of obstacle may be eliminated."
He paused, his tone becoming ice-cold and piercing.
"Now, I order you, Kurosawa Rin. As a punitive test for your recent 'mission mode alteration', I give you two choices."
"First, open the door right now and hand over the S-class target—Ayashiro Ai—intact to me. I will take him back to headquarters for 're-education' and 'formatting' to make him the organization's most loyal tool."
"Second," he glanced at his watch, "if you refuse, or don't make a choice within five minutes, I will activate Plan B—authorize the 'dormant program' inside the 'disciplinary committee' member who has been taking care of you, Miss Sato Yui."
My brain went blank with a buzzing sound.
Yui...?
Inside her body, there's some kind of..."dormant program"?!
I turned back to look at Yui in horror.
She was still standing at the junction between the living room and the entryway, looking at us with a bewildered expression.
"Ai? Rin? What are you talking about? What Plan B?"
Rin's body was shaking violently.
For the first time, her perpetually unchanging ice queen face showed an expression called "despair."
"'Professor'……" her voice was hoarse, "what did you do... to Yui?"
"Nothing much." The man outside the door said dismissively, "Just implanted a little interesting device when she was sent to our hospital after an accidental injury in her childhood. You should know, to better control our pawns, we always like to prepare a few trump cards. She is the... fuse I prepared for you."
"With just one command from me, her brain will be instantly burned by high-voltage electricity. There won't be any pain, not even any reaction, just like a machine with its power unplugged, quietly 'falling asleep'."
"How about it, Kurosawa Rin? Isn't this multiple choice question quite interesting?"
"One is your 'partner' for whom you've just developed feelings you shouldn't have."
"One is the 'friend' who has been by your side since childhood, whom you instinctively want to protect."
"Five minutes, when the time is up, if you still haven't opened the door, Sato Yui will die."
"Now, the countdown begins."
A man's voice, like a demon's whisper, echoed through the silent apartment.
And I could only watch helplessly—
My partner, Kurosawa Rin, this omnipotent "human weapon," was now facing the most cruel and vicious choice of her life.
Her gun barrel, for the first time, was pointed at herself.
